Guide for can opening key and tear strip



Feb. 20, 1951 J H, UL E 2,542,116

GUIDE FOR CAN OPENING KEY AND TEAR STRIPS Filed July 26, 1949 TJZJZPABULER, a INVENTOR.

. BY W Patented Feb. 20, 1951 OFFICE GUIDE FOR CAN OPENING KEY AND TEARSTRIP Joseph H. Bulger, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July 26, 1949, Serial No. 106,801 2 Claims. (01. 220'- 52)Thi invention relates to an improved clip to guide the winding onto canopening keys of strips which they sever from cans in opening the latter.

While it is not broadly new to provide guide means of the above statedkind, yet there remains room for improvement of such devices in respectto lessening manufacturing cost and reducing cost of assembly, and theWaste of material caused by throwing the guide clip away each time a newcan is opened. Also heretofore a disadvantage as resulted from attachingto a canopening key, soldered to the end of a can, a strip guide whichtend to interfere with stacking the cans snugly in an end to endfashion.

An object of the invention is to provide a Wire clip which can bereadily applied to and removed from a manually turnable key used to opensheet metal cans such as the type of can in which coffee is supplied tothe consumer; the applied clip causing the strip to Wind symmetricallyonto the key and causing the strip to form a straight ended coil whenwound onto the key.

Another object is to provide a guide clip of the above stated kind thatcan be detachably mounted upon the key so that, after it has been usedin the operation of opening the first can it can be repeatedly reused byapplying it to other can opening keys.

Still another object is to provide a clip of the above stated kind whichadapts itself for use in winding onto can opening keys long as Well asshort strips, so that the clip can be used to advantage in opening cansdiffering greatly in diameter.

A more specific object is to provide a key guide clip which can bemanufactured at a reduced cost owing to being so shaped as to render itunnecessary to provide a curl to secure the can opening key.

The invention pertains to a new article of manufacture usable in openinga considerable variety of different canned goods wherein the cans differin size and shape.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafterappear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferredembodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the device, per se.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevationof the device operatively shownapplied to a fragment of a vacuum type coffee containing can.

Fig. 3 is an underside plan viewed from line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the device consists of a singlepiece of stiif wire 5 the midlength portion of which is bent into a Ushape which consists of a pair of arms 6 parallel to each otherthroughout their lengths joined at the midlength of the Wire by anarcuate run I. This wire clip is symmetrically shaped, the arms of saidU being continued as parallel runs 8 which extend at substantially aright angle in relation to the plane through which the U part is bent,and said arms 8 each having a terminal portion 9 which extends atconsiderably less than a right angle to the arm 8 at its side of thedevice. The arms 8 and 9 at each side of the clip are shown assubstantially equal in length, each being slightly longer than the U arm6 at the same side of the clip. Only a slight rounding I0 is presentedat each side of the clip at the juncture of the runs 6 and 8 to form aseat at that point, but a more extended arcuate part II unites the runs8 and 9, and said arcuate part II forms the bottom portion of a cradlewherein rests the key M when the clip is in its applied position, atwhich time the side portions of said cradle, formed by the arms 8 and 9,are positioned astride the coil 15 so that they guide the winding of thesevered strip onto the key.

As viewed in side elevation (see Fig. 3), each side portion of the clipis of a double V shape the bend l0 forming the apex of one V and thebend ll forming the apex of the'other V, the apices of the V5 beingoppositely directed and the Wire run 8 being shared in common by the twoVs. Or the clip may be described as comprising a single piece of rigidwire consisting of parallel twin portions which are united at themidlength of the wire by a U bend, each of said twin portions consistingof an inner, a middle and a terminal run, the wire being bent in onedirection at the junction of said inner and middle runs, and being bentvin the opposite direction at the juncture of said middle and terminalruns,

the wire being substantially straight between said bends.

Preparatory to operating the device the parallel bends II are abuttedagainst the curved wall portion of the can 25 adjacent to its rim 26with the free upturned end of the strip 15 between said bends ll. Thenthe slotted part of the key is fed onto the short, projecting strip end.Fig, 3 shows how the key and partly coiled up strip l5 appear afterwinding-up operation has begun. As the severance operation continuesaround the can, the U bend 1 slides along the periphery of the can, andas the ruptured strip w le 9. 9 the key the tautuess of the coil i increased to the point of the force required to tear 011 the strip.Therefore, as the turning of the key continues the compactness of theturns of the coil is maintained and at the same time, as the coil buildsup on the key, the ends of the coil are caused to lie in flat parallelplanes.

I claim:

1. A strip guide clip applicable to can opening keys, said clipcomprising a single piece of rigid wire consisting of parallel, twin,spaced apart portions which are united at the midlength of the wire by aU bend, each of said twin portions consisting of an inner, a middle anda terminal run, the wire at each side of said U bend being bent in onedirection at the juncture of said inner and middle runs, and being bentin the opposite direction at the juncture of said middle and terminalruns, the wire being substantially straight between said bends.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and, in each of said twin portions thebend at the juncture of the middle and terminal run being dimensionedand shaped to form a cradle to seat the can opening key.

JOSEPH H. BULGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,911,613 Epstein May 30, 1933FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 145,480 Austria Apr. 25, 1936

